


20/20

by Mad_Maudlin



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Children of Earth, Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-05
Updated: 2010-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-07 01:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Maudlin/pseuds/Mad_Maudlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Never again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	20/20

Never again, said Gwen Cooper, and as she put Torchwood back together she established safe houses, supply caches, overseas bank accounts under false names. She lied to the government, to UNIT, to Buckingham Palace about what the Institute was actually capable of, and ran her own counter-intelligence inside their offices. Next time, Torchwood would not be made helpless.

Never again said Augustus Odouya, and he devoted vast swaths of UNIT resources to studying the 456 and their technology. Some of the brightest minds on the planet searched every corner of Earth's sky, going over data from satellites and telescopes and sensors, seeking to unravel where the 456 ship had been—if there had been a ship—and how to detect in the future. And, possibly, how to destroy it. Next time, Earth would not be held hostage.

Never again, said Regina Johnson, and she had the computers and equipment and all the records moved to a place so secure it made Ashton Down look like Paddington Station in comparison. There, in silence, her people studied the constructive wave and the minds of the children who had broadcast it, seeking to understand how it had worked and how to replicate the effect by purely artificial means. Next time, no child would be harmed.

Never again, said Denise Riley, and asked the Home Office to compile a database of second-born children. Annotate it, she told them, with addresses, schools attended and the parents' annual income. Next time, they would be prepared.


End file.
